Norway to provide $242 million to strengthen Ukrainian navy

COPENHAGEN - Norway said on Monday it would provide 2.7 billion crowns ($242 million) to strengthen the Ukrainian navy and help it deter Russian naval forces in the Black Sea.

Much of the funding will go towards innovation and autonomy under the Maritime Capability Coalition, which Norway and Britain launched last year to make Ukraine's navy more compatible with Western allies, the government said.

"It is essential to protect the Ukrainian population and Ukrainian infrastructure from attacks by Russia's Black Sea Fleet," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a statement.

"It is also important to protect exports by sea of grain and other products, which generate crucial revenues for Ukraine," he added.

The support includes donations from the Norwegian Armed Forces as well as military equipment to be procured from industry for subsequent donation.

The funding will also be used for mine clearance operations and the training of Ukrainian soldiers, the government said.

"The systems we are providing will enhance the ability of Ukrainian forces to detect and defuse mines along their coastline," Defence Minister Bjoern Arild Gram said in the statement.

(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Essi Lehto, Anna Ringstrom and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)